The present invention pertains to a subsea production system which connects a plurality of hydrocarbon producing wells with flowlines to transport hydrocarbons to storage facilities and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for providing a level area for the subsea template.
Present oil production is being directed to offshore facilities, which are located in waters about 1,000 feet deep, with the objective of going down to 2,500 feet deep.
Subsea production is practical from a cluster of wells drilled directionally from the same area. In this area, a manifold structure is placed to combine the output of the plurality of wells in one or two flowlines to transport either liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons to process and/or storage facilities.
In previous designs of a subsea template using a plurality of support piles, leveling system receptacles are located at three or four points on the template. The system uses fixed pilings, installed through the receptacles, slips and a hydraulic lifting tool which is lowered, used to level the template and then returned to the surface after the template is held in place by hydraulic slips.
In yet another design, the template is supported on three or four hydraulically actuated mudmats with conductor slots through them. After initial leveling is accomplished, conductor slots are drilled out and conductors are installed and locked into the conductor slots.
The subsea structure will consist of a circular template, with equally divided bays for wells and flowlines. The framing of each bay is designed to accept the drilling and production equipment utilized in the system.